River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1887-02-10
THE BASILISK.
A STORY OF TODAY.
CHAPTER xxI
AN ALLY.

rest upon his soul; he appearel on the
day succeeding the tragedy, which had
cost Tire unfortunate HARDY his life,
with no perceptibie diminution of his
gaiety-no rufIling Of his wonted ur-
bauity Vhe only difference l could
detect in Lis bearing was sort Of re-
turn 10 his frien5lliest manner towards
myself Illogical though II might be.
It seemed 10 me that the murder OF the
wrong man had ia some way convinced
him that his uasccut suspicious Of me
we're groundlcs,. and detected no longer
that haunting euquiring gaze with
which he had previously been in the
habit Of regarding me.
What lid Miss Reaufoy know Of the
tragcdy2 Icould nutmgkc out. Judg-
ing from her evident coguizance Of al
that went ON. allowing Tor the hard in
dOmitabIg spirit II which she gave such
manifest proofs and the remor>elcss
mrudacitr with which She lent herself
to the -cclu-inu IL Mary. | judged that
she most probably had been made
partner 81 my guilty secret. I was con-
firmcd IN 1uy suspicious before night.
Al dinner some carcle>Sue~s Ia the
cookery excited Mr.. BeaUfDy's remark,
: he commented on Mrs Hardv's
hlndiwOrk - uuc1nccruCdlv. that felt
once more almost inclined To doubt the
evidence Of nv seu>c~-UuJhlc To- he
lieve that the man who calmly criticised
his wifc'S cooking. had last night As
sisted a, the recent iuicrmeut of the
murdered husband.
Poor Mr. Hardy Is j goOd deal up
set. said the Bl>ili,k very -yupatle.-
iCally. ..Thrrc Wa~ quite scene when
told her Of Hardy ~dypJriurc
sit Is remarkable. commented
Plowitz. show people II that sort. who
are scarcely even barely civil to each
other, take ON. a they say when they
are separated
ESPECIALLY when they have not been
previously consulted about tile scpIrd-
ton. said Mr. Bclufly gently
..II5S Hardy gomez / veutured TO
ask. though my Voice WAS husky, and
could scarcely control myself.
..Yes," said Giulia He has gone
abroad on business Of DR. Plowitz' 5. ="
IAN invaluable man. Hardy" said
the doctor. $50 discreet, 50 silent, so
grave"
with intelligence far above his
cla-~. said Braufov
.And never in the way when he's
not wanted
They were deliberately attempting n
sort If testing tone about the Voorfc.iow
who. whatever his faults or crimes. had
evidently been thcirfaithful and trusted
ryautor accomplish now realized
more fully than ever the desperately
dangerous position in which any act of
iudi>crrtipu WgUd place me.
Poor M Hardy" the BasiIisk con-
tiuucl ..She became quite dramatic
a~ those people viii when they have lost
control over themselves. She wOuldn' {
believe ne had gone without saving
goodbye IL her. and she evidently
thinks Germany as dangerous coun-
try for ira eIIers as Central Africa.
was bliged At last 70 ask her what she
thought rs, had done with him.
And what did She say to that?''
asked Plowitz. dcIicately slipping his
clarct.
..Oh. then, Of course. she began To
CRY, and said it was very hard on her;
and 50 the Interview ended
After dinner had long tete-a-tcte
evening with Mis- Bcaufuv. 1t was my
object in amy way To- avert al suspicion.
u make my position as secure a.
could until I could devise some means
of gr-cujug MARY. making good my -
cape. aud, II possible, bringing PlOwi,z
at Least ID Justice More tender and
chIrmugt E1n ever was this quccUlv
woman Tonight: softer her voice. more
thrilling her music, and even
hops. 81 that house Of uUholy
mysteries being ran-ackcd high and
low hv the police. felt the spell. n Of
a very Gree. which GiuIia Beaufoy
seemed Il exercise in spite Of reason
and conscience. and the knowledge
that she was accessory 70 deed of
blood
For MI my resolve TO use the utmost
caution found myself. when all was
quiet the next afternoon, saUntering
close To the little gate which led into
thu inner-rar,lru All other means Of
acc,~~ "a Mary were secured, except
the secret staircase. and that l dared
uu; venture lust vet to try. Standing
Is this cat, ! could sec very easily il
auyeur approached. and should have
time "a resume my usual slow walk he
fore / was observed I looked ~abOut
ans. and then. with no hopes Of sue
cess. tried the latch. The gate was
St~t | ratified it softly two or three
shines. but the lock was firm 4 /
aururd away. sound which filled me
with rc.rct for my useless rJ~.uc~-,
caught ms ear The lock was turned.
aud the gate opened. / took mo- notice
Of il. though my nerves got a shock.
I believed that no one was at home
NJ steps were arrested by a voice. low
and guarded calling after me:
.Sir-Mr Coplc-,one''
I turned slowly. and saw standing
iu-t inside. the gate woman whom l
recognized is Mrs Hardy
-.Nho Is it3' / asked.
-.!,~ lIr-- IIardy. sir" she replied
..OI. r,,s~r. ~ir. would YOU b. 80 goo.l
~ rs cums aGi-psak "a me "a miuutc5
.What he you want with me-
asked. approaching the gate
.-5a. SIR. She began It once, .can
son ,.gI me anything about my hus-
hauI.
Was it's traps Anywhere else the
notion would have been outrageous.
silt here I dill not feel surc that even
thr widow might not be in a league
with the ~IlNer> II the husband L. en-
trap me into q confession which mlS Ht
S., ~ the safety 81 all.
.-iIeN should ! know anything about
yaur husband. Mrs. Hardys What
ztuout hims"
..Oh. ~r. she began. '.he's gone
AWAY without saving anything TO me,
.N,,,t "a message. by Miss Beaufoy that
-, WIS "a sudden 10 G,-m7ry 81 bust
ms + Or. Plowitz'S. Oh, sir. it ain
liz. him. ana | can't believe it. and
I,cIi. re there's something wrong about
IL"
And here the woman, whose apron
had been moppiug the large tears
whi,h gathered 1t the end Of her nose,
<airIv broke down. and buried her face
IN tile apron, showing her coarse arms
All red elbows piuful sigh; rs they
jcrkr4l with the violence Of her sobs-
~ Ta-.4,- - I iii ..-rrrr0sfa